Association for Middle Level Education

Association for Middle Level Education

Browse by Topic: Inspiration

Engaging middle schoolers in local issues helps them apply knowledge and become informed citizens

Environmental science knowledge intertwined with
cultural practices have ripple effects that impact many
aspects of society. For example, the increase in the use
of fertilizer and practices of overfishing have...

A design thinking project to inspire the future generation of leaders

Students today are faced with global issues that impact their lives such as bias, political divisiveness, injustice, and mass shootings. These students have the potential to become a generation of leaders that improve...

Inspire student interest and positive attitudes toward math

Four hundred years ago Galileo Galilei observed that "Mathematics is the language with which God has written the Universe." The "unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics," in the words of famous physicist Eugene...

Move the desks out of the way, pull up a piece of rug, and invent something using the engineering process and leftover parts. Just like anything else, the Internet provides a plethora of ideas to define and design...

A student-produced magazine celebrates middle level student voice.

In October 2015, a team of seven editors—all eighth grade boys at St. Christopher's School in Richmond, Virginia—met during lunch to compare two digital publishing platforms. They judged entries for the...

Incorporating writing into math helps students understand their thinking.

In the minds of middle grades learners, math and writing typically don't go together. With the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) things have changed!
If you'd asked me not too long ago about the challenges of...

One fine September morning, a class of eighth graders funneled into Angela's fourth floor classroom expecting a new logic problem, math puzzle, or challenge.
But not that day. Instead, the students noticed 12 small,...

Empowering our middle school students to make the world a better place.

At Americans Who Tell The Truth, we are eager to stir the hearts and minds of young people towards caring deeply and acting boldly to make our world a better place. Often such initiatives are reserved for experiences...

In the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, an arrogant graduate student in economics embarrasses Will Hunting's non-academic friend (Ben Affleck) by pointing out his lack of education and tries to prove his own intellectual...

Remember when you first thought about becoming a teacher? Remember how you thought it would be fun? When most people look back on their own educational experiences, the teachers and lessons that stand out most to...